David Joyce ready to take office in U.S. House of Representatives

David P. Joyce is excited to be sworn in Thursday to his first term as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

After serving nearly 25 years as Geauga County prosecutor, it will be a change for the Russell Township Republican as he begins work to represent Ohio's seven-county 14th Congressional District. It consists of Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula counties, plus parts of Cuyahoga, Portage, Summit and Trumbull counties.

"It will be different, but I think it's good," Joyce said. "I'm looking forward to the transition to D.C. I think some of my strengths from the Prosecutor's Office will come in handy."

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As someone who lives in a township and has for a number of years, Joyce said he understands how small governments work and aims to keep that perspective when working at the federal level.

"I want to make sure to take care of all of Northeast Ohio," the congressman-elect said. "This area is on the cusp of doing great things."

He looks forward to make the trip to Washington to be sworn in Thursday and outlined the day's agenda.

"The way I understand it is there is a morning prayer service at 8:30 and then the speaker hosts an event from 10 to noon," Joyce said.

He will receive 10 passes to the swearing-in ceremony and plans to give them to his immediate family, plus his brother and sister and their spouses.

Joyce said once the speaker of the House of Representatives gets sworn in, other members will be sworn in and then a photo will be taken with the speaker.

Afterward, Joyce plans to co-host a reception for members of the Ohio delegation.

The congressman-elect also receives the keys to his Washington office, 1535 Longworth, which he selected after drawing the No. 5 choice of about 70 freshman members of Congress.

"If I look out my office I can see a little bit of the top of the Washington Monument," Joyce said.

He plans to return home for the weekends, but for overnight stays he has rented a small efficiency apartment just a couple blocks away from Capitol Hill that he and his wife, Kelly, have affectionately dubbed the "college dorm room we never had together."

The Joyces have three children -- Trenton, 20; Keighle, 19; and Bridey, 17.

As prosecutor, he was able to be home each night and have a chance to attend all their events, coach teams and be a part of his children's lives.

Now with each child either in college or close to that age, when U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette decided to retire and the opportunity to run for Congress presented itself, it was a chance Joyce, 55, couldn't pass up. He won the Nov. 6 election by defeating three opponents.

Looking back to his time in the Prosecutor's Office, the chance to work with so many young people is something he enjoyed.

"One of the parts of the office that you appreciate is that some people come and go and for the most part you have young people who come in and get their feet wet," Joyce said. "You see young lawyers who then go out and try their own cases."

Joyce, along with Geauga County Treasurer Christopher Hitchcock, worked to have law school students as interns in their offices, and some of them would transition to continue to work for the county.

For the first time since 1988, Geauga County will have a new prosecutor -- Jim Flaiz, who was elected to the position Nov. 6.

"Jim's a nice young man and I think he'll do a nice job," Joyce said.

In Congress, Joyce looks forward to his work on the prestigious Appropriations Committee and soon will learn which subcommittees he'll serve on.

"It's a lot of work, and I want to spend some time with the large volume of work on that committee," Joyce said. "My background is a degree in accounting. It's in my wheelhouse to work on those things."

The congressman-elect hopes this session of Congress can get things done.

That same sentiment is what he's heard from many constituents as he's embarked on a listening tour that so far has included visits to schools within the 14th Congressional District.

"One of the first questions I got from a fifth-grader was what to do about the fiscal cliff," Joyce said.

He also senses the frustration people have with Congress as a whole.

"One thing I've learned so far is people are sick of us not getting things done," Joyce said. "We need to get things done."

He senses there might be a new spirit of cooperation within the incoming freshman class of representatives.

"Out of the 70 of us together, both Democrats and Republicans, we could agree we need to get things done," Joyce said. "I think we have to tell the truth to the people, and what we have to do is give them the numbers and the straight facts, and the numbers don't lie. We have to stop labeling things in a partisan manner and get some things done."